Using the California Probate Inventory and Appraisal Calculator

California Form Builder now features a Probate Inventory and Appraisal Calculator that makes it easy to create estate inventories for your probate matters, dramatically reduces the time necessary to handle probate matters, and simplifies your work by eliminating manual calculations. You only need to list the necessary information once. Form Builder automatically calculates the value of the estate and allows you to print the required form and attachments.

For California practitioners, this calculator is another way Form Builder helps streamline document assembly.

You will find the California Probate Inventory and Appraisal Calculator under the Tools box on the Form Builder homepage.

Notice the tabs across the top of the screen: Community Property, Separate Property, View Attachment 1 (for assets appraised by the Personal Representative), and View Attachment 2 (for assets appraised by the Probate Referee).

To use the calculator, begin filling in the Community Property tab. Enter in a dollar amount for any cash or quasi-community cash.

To enter an asset or debt, click the green plus icon (+) below the appropriate subsection (see Certificate of Deposit example above). You will receive a pop-up window that prompts you to enter the appropriate information based upon the type of asset or debt. Enter a description, appraised value, and accrued interest, then designate if it is Quasi-Community Property.

Note: The Quasi-Community Property check box only displays when you enter assets on the Community Property form. If the property is quasi-community, an “X” will appear in the Quasi-Community Property section.

Once you have entered the appropriate information, click OK to continue and you will see the saved information in the appropriate columns below.

Next, go to Retirement Plans or Annuities Paid to Estate in Lump Sum, click on the green plus sign and enter the appropriate community property in the Add Retirement Plan or Annuity dialogue box below. Enter a description, appraised value, and accrued interest, then designate if it is Quasi-Community Property. Click OK to continue and you will see the information saved into the column below.

Note: When you are done filling out your entries, you can click the Save and Continue button to save your entries and continue working, or click the Save and Exit button when you are finished entering all the information to save your entries and close the Inventory & Appraisal calculator. Click Exit to leave the program without saving. See below.

There are subsections available for: Cash, Real Estate, Business Interests, Tangible Personal Property, Debt or Promissory Note Owed to the Decedent, Securities, and Other Intangible and Unscheduled Property.

A running total of community property is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have completed the Community Property tab and subsections, navigate to the Separate Property section. This section allows you to enter details regarding the decedent’s separate property and the value of the property. Start by entering any separate cash at the top.

Just like with the Community Property tab, continue entering separate property by clicking the green plus icon (+) and entering a description, appraised value, and accrued interest if applicable. Click OK when finished.

To edit an existing entry, click the entry from the list and make the appropriate change. To delete an asset or debt, click the red “X” to the left of the entry.

To edit an asset, click directly on the specific entry you want to edit. (See above for example.) Under the subsection Cash, click the paycheck entry under Checks Issued Before Death. Edit the description and appraised value. Click OK.

Next, click the View Attachment 1 tab. This tab is completed automatically as you enter assets. It displays asset descriptions, appraised values, and the total appraised value for the asset types appraised by the Personal Representative that are still held by the estate at the close of the accounting period. Notice the totaling of the entries at the bottom.

Note: You can collapse the entry to hide the accrued interest by clicking the red minus icon (-).

Finally, click the View Attachment 2 tab to view the asset descriptions, appraised values, and the total appraised value for the asset types appraised by the Probate Referee that are still held by the estate at the close of the accounting period. This tab also automatically calculates as you make entries on the Community and Separate Property tabs. Notice the totaling of the entries at the bottom.

Once you are finished reviewing, you can access the Inventory and Appraisal calculator by clicking the blue link under Related Content on the right-hand side.